arrival of the swallows

[leifus]

Not sure if there has been a thread on this already but I saw my first swallow of 09 today

[kiltoncomp]

Hi Leifus,
well spotted, not seen anything yet here in the north midlands, but hope to see some soon,(they are usually here by now) , looking forward to "our" Swifts returning to nest under the eaves again,
always brings a lot of pleasure, thinking these tiny birds have been to Africa and back to raise their young under our roof again,
the original pair nesting in our eaves swelled to around six pair last year, so if they had a good year in Africa they might be even more this year (the house sparrows wont agree as there are the inevitable nest site wars which usually go the swifts way)

Brian.

[nigel_b]

We were out on the Dorset Coast path at Golden Cap today and saw our first swallow of the year. Also chiff chaffs singing away and a yellowhammer in full song early evening.

[Ruth Daniel]

Nice one Leifus,no Swallows here yet but we saw a lot of H.Martins while we were out walking yesterday.....they'll not be far behind now!

[diggleken]

Saw an early 3 last week - 29th march, Somerset levels at Shapwick Heath reserve - got home on saturday (4th april) and we had some in a well known spot up here in the north too,near my local river.
Ken

[Dae]

We saw our first swallow yesterday, same spot that we used to see them every day as we drove past. Great to see them again! Hope to see the house martins and swifts return to our neighborhood as we had lots of these in the area, even house martins nesting in the eaves of neighboring houses.

[Bullseye]

Saw first pair yesterday,my "Official Start of Spring".

[JoulesH]

My first today, investigating our farm buildings which are v popular nest sites for swallows. Must see if our BTO ringer can do them this year.

[ChasCreek]

Saw my first 3 Swallows of the year on the 30th March... always a welcome sight.

[glsammy]

Saw loads of Swallows today at Clumber Park, Notts. First sighting of the year.